Visiting Speakers

Christina Iglesias is a graduate student in English at Columbia University. Her work focuses on modernism; fin de siècle; Victorian literature; Spanish and Latin-American modernism; and religion and literature.

Massimo Introvigne is an Italian sociologist and intellectual property consultant. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements.

Desmond Jagmohan is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Politics at Princeton University. His work focurses on American Politics and Political Theory, specifically on the fields of African-American Political Thought, American Political Thought, History of Political Theory, Democratic Theory, Slavery and Modern Political Theory, Theories of Domination and Liberty, Politics of Race and Ethnicity in the U.S.

Henry Jenkins is the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at University of Southern California Annenburg. As one of the first media scholars to chart the changing role of the audience in an environment of increasingly pervasive digital content, Jenkins has been at the forefront of understanding the effects of participatory media on society, politics and culture. His research gives key insights to the success of social-networking websites, networked computer games, online fan communities and other advocacy organizations, and emerging news media outlets.

María José Contreras is an Assistant Professor in the School of Theatre at the Catholic University in Chile, as well as an actress and theatre director.

Rex Jung is an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico, a research scientist at the Mind Research Network, and a practicing clinical neuropsychologist in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He studies both brain disease and what the brain does well—a field of research known as "positive neuroscience."

E. Ann Kaplan is Distinguished Professor of English and Cultural Analysis and Theory, and founding director of The Humanities Institute at Stony Brook, now nearing its 25th Anniversary. She is Past President of The Society for Cinema and Media Studies, a member of the Executive Modern Language Association’s Discussion Group on Age Studies, and on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Consumption, Markets, Culture and Humanities Research (The Journal published by the Humanities Institute at Australian National University, Canberra).

Dr. Serena Keshavjee is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Winnipeg, where she coordinates the Art History program.